Discovering Overseas Startups Settling Domestically
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 7th that this year's 'K-Startup Grand Challenge' received applications from 2,648 teams across 118 countries, marking an all-time high.
The K-Startup Grand Challenge was established in 2016 to discover overseas prospective entrepreneurs and startups within seven years of establishment aiming to settle in Korea. It is conducted in a competition format, and outstanding teams receive prize money and support for settling in Korea.
Looking at the application results for this year's K-Startup Grand Challenge by sector, 'E-commerce' was the most popular with 328 teams (12.4%). This was followed by 'Social Media and Content' with 321 teams (12.1%), 'Artificial Intelligence' with 320 teams (12.1%), and 'Healthcare' with 285 teams (10.8%). By continent, the number of applications was highest from 'Asia' (1,382 teams), followed by 'Europe' (533 teams), and 'America' (353 teams).
In particular, it was analyzed that applications in non-face-to-face related fields were high due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to conduct overseas auditions for the 2,648 startup teams that applied for this K-Startup Grand Challenge and select a total of 60 teams to enter Korea by next month. After a two-week domestic quarantine (quarantine facility for overseas entrants), if there are no COVID-19 symptoms, accelerating programs and demo days will be conducted.
Kim Mingyu, Director of the Technology Startup Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "A demo day to compete for the final winning team of the K-Startup Grand Challenge will be held at the ComeUp event, a global startup festival scheduled for November this year." He added, "The top 30 teams will receive follow-up settlement funds, and among them, the top 5 teams will also be awarded prize money."
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